Between September 29 and October 2, 2022 the Fourth Nomadic World Games were held in Iznik, Turkey with the participation of thousands of athletes. The President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, as well as the Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakistan, Yerlan Koşanov also took part in the opening ceremony of the Games. The Representation Office of the OTS in Budapest was represented by Ambassador János Hóvári, the Executive Head of the Office, as well as project manager Ali Kilicarslan Topuz.
It was said during the opening ceremony that Kyrgyzstan was the host of the Nomadic Games in 2014, 2016 and 2018. In 2020, the event was postponed due to the corona virus. In such a way, it was the 4th Games that were held on Iznik where all corners radiate the scent of history, culture and nature.
“For thousands of years, the communities of humans have – for various reasons – been leaving their homes in order to find new spaces for life in other places”, said in his remarks the President of Türkiye. He added: at the same time, there are communities that live in a given geographical area by changing their abode all the time or depending on the seasons. The communities that met during these long journeys did have an impact on each other. Although the media and the means of communication have turned the world into a small village, the most efficient carrier of culture and human contacts is still migration”, emphasized Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The President underlined that we must not condone the disappearance of nomadic culture which was defining for mankind for thousands of years. “In order to do this, we perceive a great advantage in keeping nomadic culture alive, both by the Games that we have just opened, and other similar activities.” The President of Türkiye stressed: “I find this event to be important which has promulgated the Nomadic Games worldwide with the mission that it should leave the ancient heritage of mankind to future generations.
More than 1400 artists, including children from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye and Tuva (Russian Federation) performed traditional and artistic shows representing the common cultural heritage in great harmony with the spiritual consciousness and historical memory of the Turkic peoples.
It was especially inspiring to witness choreographies orchestrated by TÜRKSOY artists with the themes of “Alem, Evren and Kün”, “Turks and Horse”, “Nomad Games”, “Famous Personalities of the Turkic World”, “History of Türkiye” and “Turkic World” which were continued with light and dance performances.
Both the opening and closing ceremony of the Games have again demonstrated that all over the world TÜRKSOY plays an indispensable role in supporting and preserving the cultural and historical heritage of the Turkic peoples. However, the nucleus of the World Games was the sporting events in which more than 3.000 athletes were competing.
The Fifth Nomadic World Games will be held in Kazakistan in 2024.
